The calling of Christians is to walk on water---to keep our eyes on Christ and not sink into the waves. And this is no less important in the age of social media.
Like everyone else, Christians are online to learn what's happening. In fact, internet consumption has slightly outpaced tv consumption. Whereas the news used to be interpreted and filtered by professional editors, mostly centrist liberals, now it is filtered by our preferred e-celebs, celebrity pastors, our own clergy, and finally by our own friends and family, making it all the more revelatory to see how people react. This is a good development in that young people are hearing more perspectives than they otherwise would, but more voices talking all at the same time will not ipso facto effect a sea change toward the truth. "Where there is no vision, the people perish" (Proverbs 29:18).
Everyone is finding their online tribe and leaving a trail in the process, that is to say, creating a visible online identity. Since the addition of the Like button in 2009, Facebook has been predicting to a high degree of accuracy our religion and politics and other information, in order to show us posts and advertisements we are likely to engage with. And we are definitely engaging!---and revealing otherwise private information. But this has also made it so that we are exposed to more scrutiny as individuals more than ever before leading to criticism, ridicule or cancelling. The water is getting hot! Like buttons have proliferated across other internet platforms determining which content receives the most visibility and giving rise to the term, the "like economy." Christians are also competing to be liked and at the same time we have gotten more ticked off at one another than ever! We are overly familiar with the opinions of family, friends & neighbors---people we need to love---in a way that breeds contempt. And we are compulsively sharing those memes rocketing to highest visibility, which, even if they are as true as apple pie though outrageous to some, are unbalanced. They are like a cavalry charge, one side against the other, without nuance. Meanwhile trolls are finding our inconsistencies, roaming about "seeking whom [they] may devour." And some Christians are becoming trolls themselves. Should a Christian just quit social media? We are not supposed to be gladiators.
Perhaps, but not necessarily. I'm not saying that Christians shouldn't voice political positions publicly, but we have to be careful how we do it. For example, take a look at these two memes:
I chose the Matrix themed one because it's more compelling than some. Fear, or "earthly cares," has become a pseudo-virtue demanded of us by those in authority including many clergy. But, while that is true, it does no good for a Christian share a post such as this one mocking "Karens." It just turns people off as we see with the other meme that targets "rednecks." Meanwhile perhaps conservatives have the perception that they're winning because they see more of of their side's content than the other side's. But that's probably just due to the algorithm, not to mention having conservative friends and subscriptions, right? Or they think that, surely after this indignity and loss of freedom, more people will become conservatives---but that does not necessarily follow.
It's easy to think that freedom and righteousness is winning when it's not. For example there were some Jews who were killed by Pilate while sacrificing to God. And Jesus said, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish" (Luke 13:2-3). The point is, are we going to voice our positions as conservatives or as Christians---and what would that look like?
In order to post as Christians our posts need to contain not only a testimony to the practical, circumstantial truth of the moment (a humble policy position), and not only a testimony to eternal, spiritual truth (the necessity of God's blessing, virtue, etc.), but also to situational, relational truth (the Church as a foundation for a free society), because what other foundation is there? That is to say, our posts need to be Trinitarian. For example, a post (1) calling attention to those who have lost jobs because of vaccine mandates, (2) asking for God to bless this marginalized group, and also (3) identifying yourself as a member of a particular group of Christians seeking to be faithful to the fullness of the Truth would be Trinitarian. (This is how I identify myself: #☦️💧🌱🌎.)
The Matrix themed post above only accomplishes two of these three elements at best. Even if it did not contain the unhelpful slur, it would still be unhelpful. The Matrix was written and directed by two trans women. It may provide a valid metaphor for our struggle as Christians, but that was not its original purpose. Neo is not Jesus and red-pills are not our communion. Keanu Reeves ain't gonna save you! We still have to testify to what we believe. That being accomplished, there's no reason social media cannot be part of our witness as Christians.
The Bible doesn't say anything about social media technology, but it does say a lot about wealth and technology is a form of wealth. A social media account can be like having your own print shop and a team of couriers. Christians can filter and interpret the news cycle for each other as Christians. We can create our own news reports for our respective ministries and distribute them. For my part I am seeking to grow the Orthodox Christian community in Brookings, Oregon, and support St. John Chrysostom School in Uganda.
Wealth has a bias in it and that bias is toward self-congratulation and forgetting God. But the biblical solution is never to call for people to refuse wealth (like some anabaptist sects) or to burn the wealth---that's what the socialist/communists do---but rather to use our wealth to serve God. We need to make social media work for us as Christians, instead of us working for social media.
It goes without saying that Christians themselves should not be trolls, but we are to resist them firmly. In fact, 1 Peter 5:8-10 could be our social media passage: "Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you."
Then there are the concerns that all parents have for their children on social media.
According to a survey of over 2900 parents with teens by the Lurie Children's hospital of Chicago, 67% of parents have "felt concerned their teen is addicted to social media" and that social media "affects their teen’s ability to socialize normally." Here is a graphic from the same study. Note the potential negative effects of social media:
Yet at some point all our older teenage children are going to get smart phones. I do not wish for that day to hasten for my children! But I want to be able to talk to them about how we as Christians can ideally use social media if we're going to be on it at all. Is there a way for us as Christians to choose our battles carefully so as to be above criticism in the way that Jesus was immune to the scornful questions and abuse of the Sadducees and Pharisees so that they, "no longer dared to ask him any question?"
The question is, can a Christian be an effective witness to Christ on social media? If not, we shouldn't be there at all, but if so, we should be pursuing just that. Colossians 3:17 states: "And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." A social media platform can give one a public space to declare his or her faith in Jesus Christ, which is an important opportunity, but it's not enough by itself. Our deeds and character need to be in line with our message. And this advice is really not different from the standard advice held in esteem by everyone regarding social media: Your presence on social media should compliment your real life, rather than replacing it.
So how can we seek this synergy between our words on social media and our lives? It can start with this simple conviction: A Christian cannot be a lone wolf on social media, but should coordinate his or her efforts with other Christians in a particular town or city, who share the fullness of the Christian faith.
Marketers for Jesus
As an Eastern Orthodox Christian I wish that all would explore Orthodoxy and partner with us, but whatever one is, whether Catholic or Baptist or Reformed, etc., you should live your particular faith to the fullest and that means partnering with Christians at brick and mortar location, even if that is a house church. Also every Christian needs a spiritual father for guidance. Those two elements being in place, then one's presence on social media is really about being a faithful public relations specialist or marketing agent. We're not online in order to please ourselves (Roman's 15:1) or to look out for only our own interests (Philippians 2:4). If we have truly discerned that we were in need of salvation and have been saved by Christ, then we were "bought with a price." So we should "glorify God in [our] body" (1 Cor 16:20)
Some people may be reluctant to think of the Church as having a "marketing campaign." But it's all in one's perspective. Why did Jesus say, “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward” (Matthew 6:16)? Just as an athlete is focused on winning a prize, Christians need to be focused, not on getting reactions from people, but on their reward from God in this life and the life to come, a reward for bringing the truth of Christ to the marketplace of ideas—in a word, for successful marketing. This is part of a healthy fear of God, which is the beginning of wisdom.
If our competition is marketing—marketing the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—why shouldn’t we market the faith, hope and love of Christ? Jesus said, “Come all ye who are weary and heavy laden and I shall give you rest.” That’s an advertisement for spiritual rest. And Jesus said, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” That’s an advertisement for living water. Or as the psalmist writes: "Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding" (Proverbs 23:23).
Proactive, not reactive
But social media is designed by engineers to prey on our precious time and attention by stimulating a new serotonin release each time we check our phones. How can we be focused on our reward from God on a platform that is biased toward reactions from people? That's a good question and perhaps a reason to not be on social media. But the answer is that if we are going to be on social media, we should post from an emotionally proactive state, not reactively, not indiscriminately, but in order to add value for every member of our audience.
There are a lot of things we ought to refrain from posting. We need to (1) choose carefully which individuals and organizations we follow, (2) use the "favorites" feature to select certain individuals and pages be prioritized in our news feeds, and (3) limit the number of times we check social media during the day.
A coordinated approach
And furthermore to avoid the harm to ourselves and others which comes from being rudderless, we should see our social media presence and posting in the context of the other methods of our particular brick and mortar Church or house church to testify to Christ. These efforts start with word of mouth, but may also include several additional methods:
Word of mouth
Beautiful and distinctive temple exteriors and other brick and mortar ministry locations, such as schools
Signs
Door hangers and mailers (print newspapers are mostly non-existent)
Social media paid advertisements
And social media posts.
The advantage of making this list is that we see a hierarchy taking shape. What is the most essential and sacred form of witness? It’s word of mouth. “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom 10:09). And you can do this kind of witness without having a temple, because the Church is not about buildings, but about the truth. If you do not have a temple in your town, as I do not, or if you have been forced out of a particular parish because of forced masking and vaccine mandates, you can ask people to pray the Typika with you in your house. No one can ever take away your word of mouth testimony!
Regarding the second item, a brick and mortar ministry location, this is the most important aid to our personal witness—besides of course our own holiness. The beautiful exterior of the temple exists as a testimony to God's grace in its own right and as an aid to our word of mouth witness. Preferably it should be in a highly visible location; or if that's not possible at least photos may be taken of it and shared via social media. Someone may see your post or advertisement and ask you in person, "Oh, do you go to that new church with the dome on top? That’s your opportunity to confess Christ. “Yes! It’s called ‘St. John’s,’” etc., “Would you be interested in visiting with me?” By giving the name of your parish (which may call attention to Christ himself or to one of the Saints who is in Christ) you are confessing your ties to Christ and fulfilling Jesus words, “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.” Also this brick and mortar ministry location could be a school or micro-school or something else.
Regarding the third item, signs, this could include directional signs to help people find the temple location, sandwich boards to help people find a house church, and even billboards, which may proclaim a certain message to set the tone for all our interactions with the public in a particular locality.
The fourth item, door hangers and mailers is self explanatory. We could be using these depending on the expense and results.
And finally we have social media, which includes both paid advertisements and posts. Again, we should see our social media posts as part of building on all the methods which are higher in the hierarchy, primarily our word of mouth testimony to Christ. That’s actually a tall order, a high bar. Do our posts create opportunities for us to witness to Christ or do they discourage such opportunities? Do people see Christ in our posting? If someone is offended by Christ and his mission, there is nothing we can do about that, but God forbid that they be turned off by our careless boasting or judging or piety-signaling, etc.
When I was growing up I saw commercials for breakfast cereals, which said “a delicious part of this complete breakfast.” And then they would show a brief shot of a carafe of milk and a glass of juice and perhaps egg next to the cereal bowl. We can look at social media posts the same way. If all we ever offer up to the world is “fruit loops” and “chocolate frosted sugar bombs,” then we have a problem. “If then the light in you is darkness...”—that's not good (Matthew 6:23). There has to be a "complete breakfast," with personal holiness and a brick and mortar ethos to what we are offering.
An objective
Also, our posting needs to be part of a strategy with a concrete, measurable objective. For example, I have a ministry using social media to raise money, which is measurable, and I seek to use this money to accomplish visible objectives, such as building or repairing a school, purchasing school uniforms. In fact I can’t imagine a better way for Christians to give their money for the kingdom than by supporting a school such as St. John Chrysostom School in Nakyaka, Uganda. But even more helpful for our ministry objective than people giving money would be folks giving their time. It would be wonderful for more people to visit St. John Chrysostom School and perhaps stay there for a time to help and share life.
Another person's objective might be to meet five new people or families through social media in person in the course of one year by inviting them to an event, perhaps a non-threatening event such as a play-time at the park. Everything we post should be focused on guiding people to participate in brick and mortar ministries of the church, even if this is a house church in your town and even if this means your post will get fewer reactions. What matters is not how many reactions we get, but just getting as few as two or three reactions from people you do not yet know, perhaps by posting in a regional group or creating your own group.
Distinctive, winsome posts
And finally, how practically can we make our actual Facebook posts align better with the ministry offerings of our brick and mortar church? This is my list, another's may be somewhat different:
1. Create more posts with a call to action, whether that is to donate to a particular Church ministry such as EcoMercy.org or to attend a Church event locally or to just “learn more” at a ministry website.
2. Don’t “give away the farm.” These are the rules I follow when posting for a public audience. And this is geared toward Eastern Orthodox Christians:
No photos of the beautiful interior of our churches, only exterior photos.
No photos of priests wearing their liturgical robes, only cassocks.
No videos of parishioners singing. Let people come to the church to hear that.
A helpful analogy is the direct sales process. When I used to sell pest control services, it did not serve me to tell people every detail about our service in the first breath. It was better to say a small amount and do a “soft close,” to allow people to gauge their own interest level before explaining a few more features and benefits.
People should be allowed to discover the beauty of our churches for themselves when they step inside, rather than having it pushed on them before they reach the front door. Again, that's just an earthly analogy. As Jesus said, if we can't understand earthly things, how can we understand heavenly things?
3. Don't judge people. On the other hand criticism of hypocritical clergy is acceptable and helpful (as long as its true and not vindictive) because it centers the Church in the civil discourse. There's lots you can do besides judging ordinary people: You can always sympathize with the oppressed. You can tear down ideological idols and archetypes of hypocritical Christians. But don't be a smarty-dox or a trad troll.
4. Avoid piety-signaling. But this is key: This is not because a Christian should completely hide his or her piety from the world, but because he/she should not be the one to draw attention to it. "Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips" (Proverbs 27:2). For example public invitations to a church service or invitations to donate to a Church-led charity is not piety signaling because you are testifying to the body of Christ, not yourself. If you share a photo of yourself with fellow believers in which you identify yourselves as members of a particular parish, that's not piety signaling, but giving glory to God and good marketing.
5. Have a strategy for obtaining people’s emails for the ministry you are promoting.
6. Consider posting all content, such as pictures of your kids, etc., with some kind of ministry branding, whether that is just a cross (☦️✝️), or a link to your ministry website, which could be that of your church, house church or micro school, etc.
Probably this last suggestion is the most difficult and restrictive of what we post, but that might be a very good thing---I speak for myself as well. I have to continuously think twice before posting.
Some might think putting crosses on all our posts an attempt to appear "holier than thou." But it's really just about being purposeful and distinctive as Christians in the secular space of social media. To whom are we offering up our posts? If to Christ, then we should use his branding.
What is the Church other than a brand for a way of life---life within the Kingdom of Christ, life God’s way? Christianity was originally called, "The Way." How can we make our life on social media part of The Way? A blessed day to you, - Martin
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